


Are You Receiving?

by VeraBAdler



Series: October 2019 challenges [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel and Dean Winchester Have a Profound Bond, First Kiss, Human Castiel (Supernatural), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 14:11:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20893391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeraBAdler/pseuds/VeraBAdler
Summary: Despite Castiel's lack of grace, some messages come through loud and clear.Prompt 1: FreezePrompt 2: Divination (tarot, scrying, crystal balls, mirrors, visions)





	Are You Receiving?

After Castiel falls, he's cut off from Angel Radio for good. For the most part, it's a great relief to no longer be exposed to the conversations and machinations of his brethren. It's lonely, though. All of a sudden he's the only voice inside his head, and it feels hollow and sort of echoey in there for a while. His first few weeks as a permanent human, he sleeps with a (regular) radio in his room. He keeps the volume low and the station tuned to a sports call-in show, to mimic the rise-and-fall cadence of his erstwhile brothers and sisters arguing throughout eternity over pedantic trivialities.

During the day, though, he sometimes hears _something_ – a tiny peep, a soft buzz – that fades in and out at the edge of mental audibility. The first few times he senses it, it's no more than a presence. Gradually, though, in a process that feels a lot like turning the dial on that radio by his bed, he starts to hone in on it, to comprehend.

_Pants_. The word rings in his mind, quiet but clear. He knows right away that it comes from outside of himself, that it's not part of the train of thought he'd been following. It carries the definite feeling of "other," similar but not identical to the feeling of Angel Radio. 

He looks around reflexively, but he already knows there's no one nearby. Sam is out of the Bunker on a supply run, and at this hour Dean is almost certainly still asleep. He wonders if someone is trying to contact him via psychic means – Rowena, perhaps, or some other witch with a scrying bowl and too much time on her hands. He can't imagine why someone would need to psychically notify him about trousers, but witches can be eccentric. He concentrates, tries to reach out to the sender the way he used to communicate with the Host, but his human senses fail him.

It happens with more frequency after that. He'll "receive" a word or a phrase, disconnected from his own thoughts. After the fifth or sixth incident, he realizes the identity of the sender. It's Dean. The thoughts are coming from Dean.

This is deeply puzzling. Dean has never evinced the slightest sign of psychic ability before, unlike Sam's troubled past with special powers. But by the time the word _pie_ rings in his head like a love song, there's no room for doubt as to the source. Castiel hypothesizes that the phenomenon is a result of their unique bond. He suspects that there may also be residual action from the fragments of his grace that still reside within Dean, left there when his body was knitted back into wholeness after he was raised from Hell.

Regardless of the cause, now that Castiel can pinpoint a source, the communications (for want of a better word) gain clarity and volume. They are hard to ignore, in fact, especially when Dean is nearby. Castiel is of two minds regarding this; he appreciates the mental company, but regrets the invasion of his friend's privacy. At any rate, he can find no way to avoid hearing what he hears. He can only endeavor not to react.

At first, this is easy to do. The thoughts that travel from Dean's brain to his own are banal – cogitations on fast food delicacies, musings about their current case, lyrics from the rock songs that the hunter loves so well. Then one day, Dean glances at him from across the map table as they're both poring through reference books, and Castiel hears _kiss me_.

The shock that Castiel feels is momentous, immense. He forces himself to freeze, lest his facial expression or body language reveal his accidental eavesdropping. He can't help the flush that warms his skin, however.

Dean doesn't seem to notice any of this. He drops his gaze back down to the book in front of him, tapping his pen rhythmically against the table as if he hadn't just caused a seismic shift in his friend's very existence.

_An idle thought_, Castiel tells himself. _A flight of fancy. Not of import_. That night, though, he presses the tips of his fingers to his lips and imagines the bliss of answering Dean's accidental invitation.

It happens again the next morning – his eyes flick to Dean's while they're drinking their coffee in the kitchen, and _kiss me_ spools out in his mind.

Castiel is not proud of the impulse, but he feels the need to flee. He doesn't know how else to cope with the flood of emotions he's experiencing. He realizes that there _might_ be a book in a library a few days' drive away that _may_ be of some use to them in the case they're working. The odds are slim, and it's a flimsy story, but Sam and Dean have no reason to suspect him when he announces his departure.

“Let us know if you find anything,” Sam says as he claps him on the shoulder.

“Drive safe,” Dean reminds him. _Come back to me_, Castiel hears in his mind.

“I'll be home soon,” he replies, and all the way to Illinois he thinks about the beaming smile he received from Dean in response.

The pretense of his trip turns out to be a bust, and Sam and Dean crack the case on their own after a couple of days. While he's out of the Bunker, Dean's thoughts recede to an unobtrusive murmur. Castiel can almost tune them out. When Sam calls to tell him they've ganked the creature, though, Castiel receives a single word, clear as crystal and heavy with longing. It's his name. He starts the drive home.

He arrives back at the Bunker late at night, and he expects that no one will be awake when he lets himself in. The light is on in the entry, though, and Dean meets him at the bottom of the stairs.

“Welcome back,” he says with a smile. _I missed you so much_, Castiel hears in his head.

Castiel steps forward, close up into Dean's personal space. “I missed you,” he murmurs, and wraps his arms around his friend. Dean returns his hug. But when, after a respectable and manly three seconds, he moves to let go, Castiel stays pressed up against him. He places a hand on Dean's cheek and looks him in the eyes. _Kiss me_, Dean's thoughts call, and he's done resisting that call.

Their lips meet, and Dean melts into his arms with a sigh. They kiss there, standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding each other in the latenight-quiet Bunker, until their mouths are pink and their breath is short.

Dean is starry-eyed when they pull away from each other. “What made you do that?” he asks softly.

“It just popped into my head,” Castiel replies with a shrug.

**Author's Note:**

> Rebloggable link for this fic on tumblr is [here](https://blessyourhondahurley.tumblr.com/post/188128782781/october-4-are-you-receiving).


End file.
